Open AccessExamining citizens’ trust in local government institutions: a focus on upazila parishads (sub-district councils) in Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Niaz Ahmed Khan,
Jannatul Ferdous,
Imran Hossain Bhuiyan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
commonwealth journal of local governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1836-0394
DOI - 10.5130/cjlg.vi24.7275
Subject(s) - service provider , government (linguistics) , focus group , local government , scope (computer science) , service (business) , public relations , business , institution , service delivery framework , qualitative research , marketing , public administration , sociology , political science , law , social science , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , programming language
Against a backdrop of strikingly limited research on the subject, this article examines citizens’ trust in upazila parishads (UzPs) – a historically significant form of local government institution (LGI) in Bangladesh. A set of indicators has been developed that help to evaluate citizens’ trust in these LGIs. Alongside secondary literature and official document reviews, a mixed-method approach was adopted for empirical data collection combining quantitative (a questionnaire targeting a cross-section of service recipients) and qualitative ( key informant interviews with LGI service providers) methods. The results revealed a poor level of citizen trust in UzPs, as the majority of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with their performance. This low level of citizens’ trust was attributable to such reasons as delays in service delivery, dishonest and unfair practices, and disrespectful treatment by service providers. From a ‘supply-side’ perspective, service providers mentioned many constraints to good performance including the challenge of meeting growing demand with inadequate resources, frequent staff transfers, limited scope for training on modern technologies, and pressure and interference from influential elites.